A conventionally known mounting apparatus for mounting electronic components on a board is provided with a head unit having a plurality of heads capable of picking up the components by suction that are arranged along a specific direction (X-axis direction), in which each head of the head unit is configured to pick up a component supplied from a component feeder by suction, transport the component to a point above the board and mount the component in position.
In this kind of mounting apparatus, the head unit is provided with a board imaging camera for recognizing reference marks or the like on the board. While one such board imaging camera is normally provided, there exist some mounting apparatuses whose head unit is provided with a plurality of board imaging cameras.
In a mounting apparatus shown in Patent Document 1, for example, a head unit is provided with a pair of board imaging cameras at both ends thereof along the X-axis direction. Unlike the mounting apparatus provided with one board imaging camera only, this mounting apparatus is configured such that a total movable range of the individual board imaging cameras obtained as the sum of movable ranges thereof is larger than a movable range of the head unit. This means that the structure of Patent Document 1 makes it possible to provide a specified imaging range and carry out imaging operation with high efficiency while reducing the amount of movement of the head unit.
As the conventional mounting apparatus shown in Patent Document 1 cited above is provided with the two board imaging cameras, however, it is necessary that the mounting apparatus have, in addition to the cameras, two sets of elements for carrying out the imaging operation, such as wirings for the cameras and signal processing circuits. Accordingly, the conventional mounting apparatus of Patent Document 1 has had a problem it requires an increased number of components, resulting in a higher degree of structural complexity and a cost increase. Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 3746127 (Claim and FIG. 2)